Production planning of a flexible manufacturing system in a material requirements planning environment

Early flexible manufacturing system (FMS) production planning models exhibited a variety of planning objectives; typically, these objectives were independent of the overall production environment. More recently, some researchers have proposed hierarchical production planning and scheduling models for FMS. In this article, we examine production planning of FMS in a material requirements planning (MRP) environment. We propose a hierarchical structure that integrates FMS production planning into a closed-loop MRP system. This structure gives rise to the FMS/MRP rough-cut capacity planning (FMRCP) problem, the FMS/MRP grouping and loading (FMGL) problem, and the FMS/MRP detailed scheduling problem. We examine the FMRCP and FMGL problems in detail and present mathematical programming models for each of these problems. In particular, the FMRCP problem is modeled as a generalized assignment problem (GAP), and a GAP-based heuristic procedure is defined for the problem. We define a two-phase heuristic for the FMGL problem and present computational experience with both heuristics. The FMRCP heuristic is shown to solve problems that exhibit a dependent-demand relation within the FMS and with FMS capacity utilization as high as 99 percent. The FMGL heuristic requires very little CPU time and obtains solutions to the test problems that are on average within 1.5 percent of a theoretical lower bound. This FMS/MRP production planning framework, together with the resulting models, constitutes an important step in the integration of FMS technology with MRP production planning. The hierarchical planning mechanism directly provides for system-level MRP planning priorities to induce appropriate production planning and control objectives on the FMS while simultaneously allowing for necessary feedback from the FMS. Moreover, by demonstrating the tractability of the FMRCP and FMGL problems, this research establishes the necessary groundwork upon which to explore systemwide issues pertaining to the coordination of the hierarchical structure.     

Numerical simulation of collapsible-tube flows with sinusoidal forced oscillations

Collapsible-tube flow with self-excited oscillations has been extensively investigated. Though physiologically relevant, forced oscillation coupled with self-excited oscillation has received little attention in this context. Based on an ODE model of collapsible-tube flow, the present study applies modern dynamics methods to investigate numerically the responses of forced oscillation to a limit-cycle oscillation which has topological characteristics discovered in previous unforced experiments. A devil's staircase and period-doubling cascades are presented with forcing frequency and amplitude as control parameters. In both cases, details are provided in a bifurcation diagram. Poincaré sections, a frequency spectrum and the largest Lyapunov exponents verify the existence of chaos in some circumstances. The thin fractal structure found in the strange attractors is believed to be a result of high damping and low stiffness in such systems.     

Computer simulation of hydraulic flows in a human eye

A two-dimensional computer model was developed to describe hydraulic flows inside the human eye. The flow field was described by coupled Navier-Stokes and Darcy equations. The velocity and pressure profiles in the chambers, the wall, and the vitreous body of the normal eye were obtained using the finite-element method. The model includes the filtration of fluid from the retinal capillary and its drainage through the choroid. The applications of this model include the investigation of the contribution of convection and diffusion to the transport of drugs and study of the kinetics of biodistribution in the eye.     

Computer simulation of hydraulic flows in the human eye

A two-dimensional computer model was developed to describe hydraulic flows inside the human eye. The flow field was described by coupled Navier-Stokes and Darcy equations. The velocity and pressure profiles in the chambers, the wall, and the vitreous body of the normal eye were obtained using the finite-element method. The model includes filtration of fluid from the retinal capillary and its drainage through the choroid. The applications of this model include estimation of the contribution of convection and diffusion to the transport of drugs and study of the kinetics of biodistribution in the eye.     

基于CFD模拟的不同地形格局风场规律及其风感规划对策

近地表地形的风场受坡度坡向、地表形态和空间格局等地形要素的控制,从而影响人的"风感"体验,是人居环境的选址与布局需要考虑的重要因素。通过建立地形3D模型、划分网格、设定模拟工况,运用Fluent 14.0软件对不同山体地形坡度、形态和格局的风场进行CFD （Computational Fluid Dynamics）模拟。结果发现：（1）坡度在0.3以下对地形风场影响较小;当坡度大于0.5时,随坡度增大背风坡风影区逐渐增大,挡风效果更加明显;坡度大于0.7以后,随着风影区加大,回流涡旋更加明显。（2）风场受到周边地形形体的影响,尤其是迎风面和背风面截面变化率。迎风面截面变化率越大,风速变化越快;背风面截面变化越大,背风面的出现风影区和回流涡旋的几率越大。迎风面出现凹形迎风口会形成气体滞留区,而背风面凹形口后部会增加风影区和回流涡旋出现的几率。（3）不同地形格局对单个地形的风场具有强化和减弱效果。"三面环山"的相对封闭的地形格局有利于形成稳定的风场,并提高风感舒适度。在人居环境的风感营造和优化中,需要避开风感敏感区域,即风速激增区、回流涡旋区、无固定风向的强烈湍流区、气流不流通的静风区和气流死循环涡旋区等风感敏感区,并利用植被或者人工构筑物来消除敏感区或削弱这一影响。并根据不同的气候类型和城市特点进行选址、地形改造或者进行内部地形格局调整和优化,以提高风感舒适度。选择开放型地形格局和低坡度、平行风向的流线型地形能够加强通风,而塑造封闭性地形格局和垂直风向的陡坡地形能够减小风速。     

Efficient cloud service ranking based on uncertain user requirements

In a cloud computing environment, there are many providers offering various services of different quality attributes. Selecting a cloud service that meets user requirements from such a large number of cloud services is a complex and time-consuming process. At the same time, user requirements are sometimes described as uncertain (sets or intervals), something which should be taken into account while selecting cloud services. This paper proposes an efficient method for ranking cloud services while accounting for uncertain user requirements. For this purpose, a requirement interval is defined to fulfill uncertain user requirements. Since there are a large number of cloud services, the services falling outside the requirement interval are filtered out. Finally, the analytic hierarchy process is employed for ranking. The results evaluate the proposed method in terms of optimality of ranking, scalability, and sensitivity analyses. According to the test results, the proposed method outperforms the previous methods.

     

User requirements on CT-based computed dose planning systems in radiation therapy. Presentation of 'check lists'

The expanding use of computers in radiation therapy procedures, especially the rapidly increasing use of digital CT-information, necessitates the coordination of the different systems in order to facilitate their developments. In order to define necessary demands for tomorrow a Nordic cooperation was initiated 1981 by NORDFORSK (Nordic co-operative organization for applied research), and a group of physicians and physicists having their daily work in this field of medicine and physics was invited to produce a report on 'User requirements on CT-based computed dose planning systems on radiation therapy'. The work has been done within the frame of NORDFORSK's activities and has been independent of the existing commissions and associations in the radiology field, but it has taken into consideration recommendations that have been given by or are being produced by other organizations. This report is a short summary of the complete paper which will be published in Acta Radiologica. The aim of this short version is to get an early presentation of the 'requirement lists' (see Appendix) which we think are of immediate importance.     

基于规划支持系统的环境影响评价

如何在土地利用规划过程中考虑环境影响是土地利用规划中的一个难点问题.在定义活动、影响域、功能区、敏感度等概念的基础上,详细论述了土地利用规划支持系统(strate-gic tool for integrating environmental aspects in planning procedures,STEPP)将环境影响融入土地规划设计的过程.该系统是在ArcView GIS二次开发语言Avenue上开发的规划支持系统,可以方便规划相关人员在系统平台上进行信息交互,并在空间上直观、定量地表现规划过程中的环境影响及其变化.以荷兰埃德和维纳多市之间的城乡结合部为研究区进行案例研究,结果表明,该系统的定义和评价过程能较好地将环境影响融入到规划设计过程中,适时、直观地反映规划措施对环境的影响,方便了规划参与者参与规划过程,为决策者制定科学规划提供了依据.最后,对该系统如何应用于我国的规划环境影响评价提出了建议.     

Quick selection of representative protein chain sets based on customizable requirements

MOTIVATION: Protein structure classification has been recognized as one of the most important research issues in protein structure analysis. A substantial number of methods for the classification have been proposed, and several databases have been constructed using these methods. Since some proteins with very similar sequences may exhibit structural diversities, we have proposed PDB-REPRDB: a database of representative protein chains from the Protein Data Bank (PDB), which strategy of selection is based not only on sequence similarity but also on structural similarity. Forty-eight representative sets whose similarity criteria were predetermined were made available over the World Wide Web (WWW). However, the sets were insufficient in number to satisfy users researching protein structures by various methods. RESULT: We have improved the system for PDB-REPRDB so that the user may obtain a quick selection of representative chains from PDB. The selection of representative chains can be dynamically configured according to the user's requirement. The WWW interface provides a large degree of freedom in setting parameters, such as cut-off scores of sequence and structural similarity. This paper describes the method we use to classify chains and select the representatives in the system. We also describe the interface used to set the parameters.     

Design of small molecule-responsive microRNAs based on structural requirements for Drosha processing

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are prevalent regulatory RNAs that mediate gene silencing and play key roles in diverse cellular processes. While synthetic RNA-based regulatory systems that integrate regulatory and sensing functions have been demonstrated, the lack of detail on miRNA structure-function relationships has limited the development of integrated control systems based on miRNA silencing. Using an elucidated relationship between Drosha processing and the single-stranded nature of the miRNA basal segments, we developed a strategy for designing ligand-responsive miRNAs. We demonstrate that ligand binding to an aptamer integrated into the miRNA basal segments inhibits Drosha processing, resulting in titratable control over gene silencing. The generality of this control strategy was shown for three aptamer-small molecule ligand pairs. The platform can be extended to the design of synthetic miRNAs clusters, cis-acting miRNAs and self-targeting miRNAs that act both in cis and trans, enabling fine-tuning of the regulatory strength and dynamics. The ability of our ligand-responsive miRNA platform to respond to user-defined inputs, undergo regulatory performance tuning and display scalable combinatorial control schemes will help advance applications in biological research and applied medicine.     

Effect of surface roughness on slip flows in hydrophobic and hydrophilic microchannels by molecular dynamics simulation

The influences of surface roughness on the boundary conditions for a simple fluid flowing over hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces are investigated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The degree of slip is found to decrease with surface roughness for both the hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces. The flow rates measured in hydrophobic channels are larger than those in hydrophilic channels with the presence of slip velocity at the walls. The simulation results of flow rate are correlated with the theoretical predictions according to the assumption of no slip boundary condition. The slip boundary condition also strongly depends on the shear rate near the surface. For hydrophobic surfaces, apparent fluid slips are observed on smooth and rough surfaces. For simple fluids flowing over a hydrophobic surface, the slip length increases linearly with shear rate for both the smooth and rough surfaces. Alternately, the slip length has a power law dependence on the shear rate for the cases of hydrophilic surfaces. It is observed that there is a no-slip boundary condition only when shear rate is low, and partial slip occurs when it exceeds a critical level.     

Numerical simulation of aortic bifurcation flows: The effect of flow divider curvature

Two dimensional steady flow calculations in computational regions obtained from radiographs of human aortic bifurcations correlate well with unsteady measurements of wall shear in flow-through casts of the same vessels. The results suggest that wall slope may be an important factor affecting the variability of shear along the medial walls of this arterial segment. If extremes of shear stress promote atherogenesis, then variations in the curvature of the proximal iliac arteries may affect the susceptibility of these vessels to vascular disease on their medial aspect.     

Numerical simulation of streaming potentials due to deformation-induced hierarchical flows in cortical bone

Bone is a very dynamic tissue capable of modiA,fing its composition, microstructure, and overall geometry in response to the changing biomechanical needs. Streaming potential has been hypothesized as a mechanotransduction mechanism that may allow osteocytes to sense their biomechanical environment. A correct understanding of the mechanism for streaming potential will illuminate our understanding of bone remodeling, such as the remodeling associated with exercise hypertrophy, disuse atrophy, and the bone remodeling arounid implants. In the current research, a numerical model based on the finite element discretization is proposed to simulate the fluid flows through the complicated hierarchical flow system and to calculate the concomitant stress generated potential (SGP) as a result of applied mechanical loading. The lacunae-canaliculi and the matrix microporosity are modeled together as discrete one-dimensional flow channels superposed in a biphasic poroelastic matrix. The cusplike electric potential distribution surrounding the Haversian canal that was experimentallv observed and reported in the literature earlier was successfully reproduced by the current numerical calculation.     

Applications of MCNP simulation in treatment planning: a comparative study

Radiation and Environmental Biophysics - Monte Carlo codes have been used for approximately 80 years to solve various problems in medical physics. In this paper, the importance of the...     

基于城市控制性详细规划的热岛效应评价

随着城市规划法律地位的提升,控制性详细规划在指导土地出让、规范城市建设空间结构方面发挥着越来越重要的作用.在控规单元尺度上理解各项控制指标的热岛效应,在控规地块尺度上进一步揭示控制指标组合的“热环境绩效”,对于定量评价控规的热环境效应、提出缓减热岛的控制措施具有重要意义.本文利用遥感Landsat8 TIRS热红外遥感数据反演的地表温度来表征热岛效应,结合统计分析与GIS空间分析技术,定量评价城市控制性详细规划主要技术经济指标及其配置结构的热岛效应.结果表明: 绿地率、地块面积、建筑密度、建筑高度在控规单元尺度上对地表温度具有显著影响.通过构建三维模型发现,控规地块对热环境影响最小的组合为绿地率30%,容积率2.5～3.5.研究结果为城市控制性详细规划的优化提供了新的视角.     

基于Ecopath模型的密云水库生态系统结构与物质流动特征

密云水库作为北京的水源地,其生态安全备受关注。增殖放流鲢（Hypophthalmichthys molitrix）和鳙（Hypophthalmichthys nobilis）已成为多年来改善密云水库水质的重要措施。为进一步提升水质改善效果、提出基于生态系统管理的增殖放流优化方案,需要开展水库生态系统结构与物质流动特征研究。本研究根据已发表的生态环境调查数据及现场实测数据,运用碳氮稳定同位素技术确定鲢和鳙食物组成,并将其作为输入参数构建了2017年密云水库生态系统Ecopath模型。结果显示：鲢摄食悬浮有机颗粒物的比例高于鳙;鲢、鳙、浮游植物和碎屑的生态传递效率分别为0.62、0.75、0.49和0.39;营养级I和营养级II的总流量分别占系统总流量的68.2%和30.6%;系统中物质的总平均传递效率为7.2%;总初级生产量与总呼吸量比、总初级生产量与总生物量比、总生物量与系统总流量比分别为1.711,77.119和0.005,与部分湖库相比,密云水库生态系统成熟度处于较高水平。基于研究结果,建议采取提高碎屑食性鱼类增殖放流比例,开展长时间尺度研究等管理措施,以促进生物资源合理利用和生态系统的发育与稳定。